Rebuilding Under-served communities through technology

Unemployment and poverty is on the rise in under-served communities in Kenya and majority of young people and women in these communities are under-educated, unskilled and thus unable to compete in the fast-paced world we currently live in. Due to these facts, Wezesha Accelerator is empowering under-served young people and women with competitive skills, building ICT human resource capabilities and matching talents with employers, to inspire a new generation of technology leaders in Africa, while at the same time promoting economic prosperity in under-served communities.

Youth population is on the rise in Kenya and so is the youth unemployment, because the Country is not creating enough jobs to match the rising youth population (http://www.ke.undp.org/content/kenya/en/home/blog/2017/2/1/Why-Kenya-must-create-a-million-new-jobs-annually.html). This has led to increased poverty levels in under-served communities, which if unchecked may have a disastrous outcome for the Country’s economic growth. 

Despite the high rate of youth unemployment, the birth rate is also on the rise and many children are born in extreme poverty. And as a result, majority of families in under-served communities are trapped in the vicious circle of poverty. 

If actions are not taken to empower these communities with competitive skills and opportunities, then majority of talented young people and women from these communities may miss the opportunity to contribute to a prosperous world.

We are empowering young people and women in under-served communities in Kenya.

Teaching young people and women from under-served communities how to code is critical, but it is only part of the solution. Youth unemployment in Kenya is at 22% and majority of young people are unable to find jobs that match their skills and talents. (https://www.britishcouncil.co.ke/sites/default/files/ng_kenya_youth_employment_in_kenya.pdf).

If young people and women are taught how to code, mentored to become technology leaders and matched with employment opportunities, then they are positioned to not only transform their lives, but also to develop their communities to foster economic growth and prosperity.

Wezesha Accelerator has adopted this strategy to empower young people and women from under-served communities in Kenya through competitive digital skills training,  mentorship, skills matching with employers and a lifelong support network from our alumni and industry experts, to promote inclusion and economic prosperity in under-served communities.

Our holistic approach in empowering young people and women from under-served communities is poised to provide a lasting solution to youth unemployment and extreme poverty in Kenya.

We have many organizations which train young people on how to code, but we are not about training young people on how to code. We are about empowering the next generation of technology leaders in Africa. 

We are about building a stronger network and connections for young people and women to thrive. We are almost entirely run by a team of volunteers who are passionate about giving back to their communities, to break the vicious circles of poverty and youth unemployment in under-served communities, to foster economic prosperity.

We train on mobile application development, data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Wezesha Accelerator has a high potential for growth due to the high rate of youth unemployment and poverty in Kenya and Africa at large. With the current youth unemployment rate at 22 % in Kenya (https://www.britishcouncil.co.ke/sites/default/files/ng_kenya_youth_employment_in_kenya.pdf), we have the opportunity to use technology as a catalyst for economic prosperity and social inclusion for young people and women from under-served communities. In addition, coding and computer programming is becoming a basic skill for the future and more young people from different cities and rural areas are developing interest in learning these vital skills for economic prosperity.

Wezesha Accelerator is run by a diverse team of 21 professionals, where 7 are full-time employees and 14 are volunteers. Each of our centers has at least two full-time employees and at least four volunteers. Four of our full-time employees are senior software engineers, who train and mentor our students, while three are human resource professionals, who are our liaison officers that match our students with employment opportunities from other organizations. Three of the volunteers are our administrative assistance while 11 volunteers are senior software engineers, who mentor and inspire our students to become better and ethical technology leaders.

We are planning to expand our reach and impact to Uganda and Tanzania in 5 years time.  This will bring us closer to our vision of empowering the next generation of technology leaders in Africa’s under-served communities. We also plan to empower and mentor over 4000 young people and women and match them with employment opportunities in the next 5 years.

Wezesha Accelerator is almost entirely run by volunteers. While this has been our unique approach and key to our success thus far, leadership which is majorly made up of volunteers with other commitments elsewhere limits our growth and impact in communities. And thus, we have hired 5 full-time employees in the last six months in hopes of overcoming this challenge and build a diverse leadership team, as we expand our programs to other cities in Kenya and beyond.

Wezesha Accelerator is almost entirely run by volunteers. While this has been our unique approach and key to our success thus far, leadership which is majorly made up of volunteers with other commitments elsewhere limits our growth and impact in communities. And thus, we have hired 5 full-time employees in the last six months in hopes of overcoming this challenge and build a diverse leadership team, as we expand our programs to other cities in Kenya and beyond.

We have 7 full-time employees and part-time volunteers.

We are build a diverse team who are passionate about creating solutions for the problems facing people in under-served communities.

We are working with various partners in our quest to eradicate poverty and youth unemployment in communities. We have partnered with Kenya National Library Service, American Corner (Kisumu), Geothe Institut and the Kenyan Government, through the national government affirmative action fund to empower, mentor and match young people and women with opportunities to foster economic prosperity in under-severed communities.

We are a social enterprise. 

We continue to grow our clientele for our consulting services and our corporate relationships and donor network, which brings USD $ 125,000 annually.  We have also partnered with the Kenyan government through the national government affirmative action fund to empower 1000 women with competitive digital skills in the next four years.  We are currently building relationships with other funding institutions, and as we grow, we plan to expand our clientele base for our consulting services both in Africa and the world at large, to help us achieve financial sustainability for our initiative.

We are building a stronger community of technology leaders in Africa who will thrive beyond Wezesha Accelerator. Our programs are designed to unlock the full potential of young people and women to make them prosper irrespective of their economic backgrounds.

The Solve Award will help us expand our Initiative and enable us to empower, mentor and match more young people and women with employers, to foster economic prosperity in under-served communities.

 The Solve Award’s publicity and network will help me learn on how to become a better leader and how to make a bigger impact in communities in which we work and beyond. 

Wezesha Accelerator is already running programs in three cities in Kenya. With the Solve award, we would expand our programs to the neighboring Countries of Uganda and Tanzania and other least developed Countries in Africa. I believe the award would help us empower and inspire more technology leaders in Africa, to reduce youth unemployment and eradicate poverty in under-served communities in Africa.